When I try to go to sleep or when I need to leave reality, I call up some ’80s tunes online and think back to my past — simply because my senior year at Atkins High School and first three years at Arkansas Tech University were some of the best years of my life.

Obviously, there were decisions I would have made differently and things I wouldn’t have done if I knew then what I’ve suffered through now. That was the first time I had to make one of those “life” choices — it came down to playing basketball or continue to focus on a music scholarship to college.

My band director, Bill Clement, did all he could to help us move on to the next level. But there was another man who is being remembered by many Red Devils whom we lost last week.

Scott Van Hoose, 72, lived in Morrilton with his wife, Donna, and they both taught at AHS for several years, until they retired and operated the Chicken Place in Morrilton for 22 more years. Instead of Scott, many know him by Coach Van Hoose, but he was so much more than just a coach.

If you needed him, he was there for you. All you had to do was ask. No matter if you played football, basketball, percussion or the saxophone, he took a genuine interest in your life. Mr. and Mrs. Van Hoose treated everybody the same. Your popularity or how much money your family made didn’t matter one bit.

My two favorite periods my senior year were third and fourth — PE and band. Pretty much, I lived for playing flag football or basketball, then going to band. Coach and I had our differences — he sent me to the locker room for a couple of days when I didn’t want to play frisbee baseball or something outside — but it didn’t linger very long.

What I liked the most about Van Hoose was he was a coach I could talk to. And I did talk to him. When I hit my growth spurt before my senior year, I got the idea in my head I could play basketball, and thought about it for a long time. But I was also practicing for all-region tryouts and another kind of shot — this one to march with Arkansas’ Band of Distinction.

Coach Van Hoose talked to me for nearly an entire period one day about playing basketball. I came back a few days later and said I still wasn’t sure. Basically, he told me that I loved music more than playing basketball. He told me to stay focused on band, because that’s how I would pay for college. He was right.

That was the biggest thing Mr. and Mrs. Van Hoose told everyone: Education will get you everywhere, open any door, make any dream a reality.

I also enjoyed asking Coach Van Hoose his opinion, and there we have something in common — he didn’t mind telling you what he thought about anything. I asked one time why the Red Devils basketball team wasn’t in the Courier-Democrat that much. He wasn’t too fond of the sports writer. He would write whatever someone said, whether it was true or not, he told me.

A few years later, when I started my career in journalism, I wanted to do two things: first, try to get Atkins sports in our paper more, and second, always report the truth, not necessarily what someone tells me. I hope I’ve lived up to those goals.

I was shocked in the last month of school when he gave me the senior high PE award during an awards assembly. With the exception of solo and ensemble medals, it was the first time I won an award at school. I’ve still got it packed away somewhere, next to my high school diploma.

There are many coaches we deal with on a daily basis who make a difference in the lives of so many student-athletes. I only hope they make a difference in the lives of students who aren’t just athletes — those who need an important role model, a tremendous educator — or they just need a friend.

According to the Facebook page of his wife, Donna Van Hoose, some Red Devil alumni have started a scholarship fund in Coach Van Hoose’s name for a senior at AHS. The account number for the Scott Van Hoose Scholarship Fund at Liberty Bank is 9364048.